That Time Famous Artists Decided To Design American Apparel Clothes

Are we being punked? We've just received word that NADA, the New Art Dealers Alliance --one of the biggest satellite fairs in the art orgy that is Art Basel Miami Beach -- is collaborating on a limited edition clothing line with none other than American Apparel.

That's righty, every day of the fair, American Apparel will feature one new, "exclusive" clothing item, each designed by an artist whose work is on view at NADA. The artists taking part are Anya Kielar, Andrew Kuo, Cary Leibowitz and Scott Reeder. Great artists! Weird choice of commercial media.

Something about ABMB tends to bring out bizarre collaborations between artists and commercial goods. Maybe it's the endless champagne? Last year we were perplexed by Richard Prince's questionable tryst with lemon fizz beverages, but the NADA/AA endeavor is even stranger. Prices were not discussed in the press release, but given the "exclusive" nature of the garb we are guessing it's not cheap.

American Apparel CEO Dov Charney has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/irene-morales-dov-charney_n_1373424.html" target="_blank">faced multiple accusations of unwanted sexual conduct</a>, including accusations that he forced an employee to perform oral sex and kept one employee as a sex slave. According to American Apparel spokesman Peter Schey, Charney is currently involved with four sexual harassment suits that the company believes "have no merit."
Charney told CNBC that such lawsuits are <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/dov-charney-interview-american-apparel_n_1419086.html" target="_blank">"a testimony to my success."</a>